Genesis 34

CHAPTER 34

1Forsooth Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out to see the women of that country.

2And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of that land, had seen her, he loved her, and he ravished her, and slept with her, and oppressed the virgin by violence.

3And his soul was bound fast with her, and he pleased her sorry with flatterings.

4And he went to Hamor, his father, and said, Take to me this damsel for a wife.

5And when Jacob had heard this thing, while his sons were absent, and occupied in the feeding or the pasturing of [the] sheep, he was still, till they came again.

6Soothly when Hamor, the father of Shechem, was gone out to speak to Jacob,

7lo! his sons came from the field. And when this thing that befelled was heard, they were wroth greatly; for he had wrought a foul thing in Israel, and he had done a thing unleaveful in the defouling of the daughter of Jacob.

8And so Hamor spake to them, The soul of my son Shechem hath cleaved to your daughter; give ye her a wife to him,

9and join we weddings together; give ye your daughters to us, and take ye our daughters,

10and dwell ye with us; the land is in your power; till ye, and make ye merchandise, and wield ye it.

11But also Shechem said to the father and brethren of her, Find I grace before you, and whatever things ye ordain I shall give;

12increase ye the dower, and ask ye for gifts, and I shall give willfully that that ye ask; only give ye this damsel a wife to me.

13The sons of Jacob answered in guile to Shechem and to Hamor, his father, and they were made fierce for the defouling of the maidenhood of their sister,

14We may not do this that ye ask, neither we may give our sister to a man uncircumcised, which thing is unleaveful and abominable with us.

15But in this we shall be able to be bound in peace, if ye will be like us, and each of male kind be circumcised in you;

16then we shall give and take together our daughters and yours; and we shall dwell with you, and we shall be one people.

17Forsooth if ye will not be cir-cumcised, we shall take our daughter, and we shall go away.

18The proffering of them pleased Hamor, and Shechem, his son,

19and the young waxing man delayed not, that not he fulfilled anon that that was asked; for he loved the damsel greatly, and he was the most noble in all the house of his father.

20And they entered into the gate of the city, and spake to the people,

21These men be peaceable, and will dwell with us; make they merchandise in the land, and till they it, which is large and broad, and hath need to tillers; we shall take their daughters to wives, and we shall give our daughters to them.

22One thing is, for which so great good is delayed; if we circumcise our males, and follow the custom of the folk,

23both their substance, and sheep, and all things which they wield, shall be ours; only assent we in this, that we dwell together, and make one people.

24And all men assented, and all [the] males were circumcised.

25And lo! in the third day, when the sorrow of [the] wounds was most grievous, two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, [the] brethren of Dinah, took swords, and entered into the city boldly; and when all [the] males were slain,

26they killed Hamor and Shechem together, and took Dinah, their sister, from the house of Shechem. And when they were gone out,

27 [the] other sons of Jacob felled in on the slain men, and rifled the city, for the vengeance of [the] defouling of the virgin.

28And they wasted the sheep of those men, and droves of oxen, and asses, and all things that were in the houses and fields,

29and led away as prisoners the little children, and [the] wives of those men. And when these things were done hardily,

30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, and have made me hateful to Canaanites and Perizzites, [the] dwellers of this land; we be few, [and] they shall be gathered together against me, and shall slay me, and I shall be done away, and mine house.

31Simeon and Levi answered, Whether they ought to mis-use our sister as a whore?

B'resheet (Gen) 34

1(v) One time Dinah the daughter of Le’ah, whom she had borne to Ya‘akov, went out to visit the local girls; 2and Sh’khem the son of Hamor the Hivi, the local ruler, saw her, grabbed her, raped her and humiliated her. 3But actually he was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Ya‘akov; he fell in love with the girl and tried to win her affection. 4Sh’khem spoke with his father Hamor and said, “Get this girl for me; I want her to be my wife.”

5When Ya‘akov heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Ya‘akov restrained himself until they came. 6Hamor the father of Sh’khem went out to Ya‘akov to speak with him 7just as Ya‘akov’s sons were coming in from the field. When they heard what had happened, the men were saddened and were very angry at the outrage this man had committed against Isra’el by raping Ya‘akov’s daughter, something that is simply not done. 8But Hamor said to them, “My son Sh’khem’s heart is set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife; 9and intermarry with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You will live with us, and the land will be available to you — you’ll live, do business and acquire possessions here.”

11Then Sh’khem said to her father and brothers, “Only accept me, and I will give whatever you tell me. 12Ask as large a bride-price as you like, I’ll pay whatever you tell me. Just let me marry the girl.” 13The sons of Ya‘akov answered Sh’khem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14They said to them, “We can’t do it, because it would be a disgrace to give our sister to someone who hasn’t been circumcised. 15Only on this condition will we consent to what you are asking: that you become like us by having every male among you get circumcised. 16Then we’ll give our daughters to you, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people. 17But if you won’t do as we say and get circumcised, then we’ll take our daughter and go away.” 18What they said seemed fair to Hamor and Sh’khem the son of Hamor, 19and the young man did not put off doing what was asked of him, even though he was the most respected member of his father’s family, because he so much wanted Ya‘akov’ s daughter.

20Hamor and Sh’khem his son came to the entrance of their city and spoke with its leading men: 21“These people are peaceful toward us; therefore let them live in the land and do business in it; for, as you can see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives for ourselves, and we’ll give them our daughters. 22But the people will consent to live with us and become one people only on this condition: that every male among us gets circumcised, as they themselves are circumcised. 23Won’t their cattle, their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s consent to do what they ask, and then they will live with us.” 24Everyone going out the city’s gate listened to Hamor and Sh’khem his son; so every male was circumcised, every one that went out the gate of the city.

25On the third day after the circumcision, when they were in pain, two of Ya‘akov’s sons, Shim‘on and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, boldly descended on the city and slaughtered all the males. 26They killed Hamor and Sh’khem his son with their swords, took Dinah out of Sh’khem’s house, and left. 27Then the sons of Ya‘akov entered over the dead bodies of those who had been slaughtered and plundered the city in reprisal for defiling their sister. 28They took their flocks, cattle and donkeys, and everything else, whether in the city or in the field, 29everything they owned. Their children and wives they took captive, and they looted whatever was in the houses.

30But Ya‘akov said to Shim‘on and Levi, “You have caused me trouble by making me stink in the opinion of the local inhabitants, the Kena‘ani and the P’rizi. Since I don’t have many people, they’ll align themselves together against me and attack me; and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31They replied, “Should we let our sister be treated like a whore?”

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Genesis 34

B'resheet (Gen) 34